


Sweeping past the minutes of its face

by Himring



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bilbo's clock, Gen, Time - Freeform, Tol Eressëa, time-keeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Himring/pseuds/Himring
Summary: A mechanical clock is imported from The Shire to Valinor.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	Sweeping past the minutes of its face

It was Frodo who brought Bilbo’s old clock to Tol Eressea. He had been watching as its hands moved past its face in the days before he left: counting his last hours in the Shire, counting the hours until his departure. The clock had come in at the beginning on the story he had been writing down, with Thorin & Co.’s letter under the clock on the mantelpiece; he decided to take it along at the end. Bilbo might like to see it again, although the elves might think it quite strange to take a timepiece to a timeless realm.  
  
It turned out that the elves of Valinor apparently thought quite a lot about counting time. They even had clocks—the great water clock of Alqualonde was a miracle of engineering—but none quite like his. Quennar, a lore-master who had written a book about the Reckoning of Years, came to see the clock and got on famously with Bilbo.  
  
It was Quennar who helped Frodo replace the spring, when it wore out. By then, Quennar could explain to the smith exactly how the mechanism worked. Frodo wound the clock and set it ticking again: a new lease of life.

**Author's Note:**

> I have written a bio about Quennar, which can be found in the References section of the SWG Archive.
> 
> The water clock of Alqualonde is, I think, borrowed from somebody else's 'verse. Possibly it was mentioned in a fic of Anna Wing's? 
> 
> The title is from the lyrics of "The Windmills of Your Mind", written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and first sung by Noel Harrison.
> 
> This double drabble was written as a fill for three prompts from the Clock Challenge at Tolkien Weekly and for the Hidden Figures Challenge at the SWG Archive (2 x 100 words in Word).


End file.
